Clothespin



F. KOUP. CLOTHESPIN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25; I921.

1,41 3,035. Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

PATENT cries.

FRANK KOUP, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

cno'rnnsrin.

Specification of Letters fatent. Patented A1313 18 1922 Application filed February 25, 1921. Serial No. 447,709. 7

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK Kour, a c1t1- zen of the United States, residing at Buffalo,

in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Clothespins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clothes pins, and more particularly to a metallic clothes pin.

Clothes pins constructed of wood, although enlarged between 'the'clothes-line receivingslot and thehead of the pin with a View of strengthening them. at such points, often become split and therefore useless. Moreover, soot and grit carried in the air settle upon the pins and necessitate frequent washing. The particles of soot and grit, however, lodging in the pores of the wood cannot be removed by ordinary cleansing means, with the result that the wash fas-- tened to a line by means of the pins isoften marked where clamped by the pins. Therefore, it is necessary to replenish the supply of wooden Clothespins quite frequently.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a metallic clothes pin, and more particularly a clothes pin constructed of aluminum, which can be easily cleaned, which is durable, and while more expensive than a wooden clothes pin; it will, on account of its durability, be found much cheaper over a long period of time. Owing to its being more expensive than a wooden clothes pin, greater care will be takenin preventing loss, as it is very common to find wooden clothes pins scattered about where wash is usually hung to dry.

A pin constructed of aluminum is comparatively light, but owing to the cost of the material, economy in construction is a highly essential feature, and with this in view my invention is constructed so that the minimum cost is required in constructing a pin, due to the fact that it can be made small at the point where the ordinary wood on clothes pin is made extremely large for strength, and thus considerable saving of material and at the same time reduction in 1 weight is secured. Moreover, it is the purter from its lower end upwardly and havfrom its lower end through the major por-c tron thereof, said body portion being of smallestdiameter at that part thereof above said slot and having also a head and the lower ends of the arms at opposite sides of the slot narrowed downwardly.

In the drawings Figs. 1 and 2'are elevations of a pin constructed according to my invention, the v ews being taken at right angles to each other. i

In the construction of a clothes pin formed of aluminum, it is highly essential, owing to its cost, that the minimum amount of ma-' terial be used, yet full regard must be given 1n respect to the clamping of clothes by the pin and also the strength thereof, and while this clothes pin may be cast, in which case only the exact quantity of material required will be utilized, I have in mind, in order to provide a polished finish for the same, to turn the pins from bar material, the material turned off, to complete the pin to the construction required in this invention, being re-melted for further use so that no loss in material will be sustained in the manufacture of these pins.

When using clothes pins, they are invariably taken hold of attheir upper ends, and in wooden clothes pins the greatest diameter is at the upper ends thereof, viz. between the head of the pin and the upper end of the slot, this being required to provide the necessary strength; such enlargement being intended to prevent splitting of the pm. A clothes pin, however, constructed with an enlarged upper portion is bulky to i handled, and by reason of its being made of metal has no tendency to split.

Reference being had to the drawings in detail, A represents the body portion of the. pin and B the head. This body portion is tapered upwardly so that its greatestdiamw eter is at the lower end and its smallest diameter at the head B. It is provided with a line-receiving slot 0 forming two opposite arms 0 at opposite sides of the slot, the slot being enlarged at its lower end by beveling the inner sides of the two arms at thein lower ends, as at D, and these arms are gradually reduced in width from a point approximately inline with theupper end of V the beveledinner portions D, as at E, thus considerable material is saved b bevelin V b the arms, as at D and by reducing the widths of said arms, as at E. The upper end of the line-receiving slot 1s enlarged, as at F, so as to'provide slight yielding action for the armsgwhereby assurance is had that the line will be firmly clamped by the opposite parallel sided portions G of the slot. That part of'the body portion between the upper end of the-slot and the head B is therefore of smallest diameter and the necessary strength. is provided for the arms at opposite sides of the line-receiving slot, due to the body portion being widest along the range of said slot. I This also gives the arms the desired thickness to assure a firm clamping aetlon against the wash clamped to a llne.

: 7 By constructing Clothespins as described they are convenient to handle, possess all the advantages of the ordinary wooden clothes pin, and have several advantages thereover.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim 1s:-

l. A clothes pin having a body portion provided with a line-receiving slot extend-V ing from a point a distance from its upper end to its lower end and having a head at its upper end, said body portion being of smaller diameter at all points above the upper end of said slot than, at any point along the region ofsaid slot.

2. A Clothespin formed of aluminum havbeveled walls and the enlarged upper, end

thereof, the diameter of said body portion being-greater at all points of said-clamping arms than at other points thereof.

In testimony whereof Iaflix mvsignature.

FRANK KOUP. 

